SATELLITES HAVING AUTONOMOUSLY DEPLOYABLE SOLAR ARRAYS

• Main Authors: Lemke, Gary E, Wasson, Chris J, Mills, John P, Cantu, Cecilia G
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 13.04.2023
• Subjects: AIRCRAFT; AVIATION; CALCULATING; COMPUTING; CONVERSION OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER; COSMONAUTICS; COUNTING; ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING; ELECTRICITY; GENERATION; GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRA-REDRADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, E.G. USINGPHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; MEASURING; MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; NAVIGATION; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY; PHYSICS; SURVEYING; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES OR EQUIPMENT THEREFOR

Satellites having autonomously deployable solar arrays are disclosed. A disclosed example satellite includes a solar array, a sensor to detect that the satellite has exited a launch vehicle, a processor to, based on the satellite exiting the launch vehicle, enable release of magnets or locks of an a...